McNeills Imperial Stout

Formerly brewed at McNeills Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Brattleboro, Vermont USA

Bottle pours pitch black, with a slight rich dark milk chocolate tinge, large fluffy tannish head, with fairly good lacing.   Aroma was roasted malts, light soy and chocolate.   Much the same on flavor, quite smooth too.   An ever so slght figgish and coffee tinge as well.   This seems to be a great example of a well rounded Imperial Stout.   Good body and mouthfeel, long finish with lingering hop bitterness.   Quite good this is.   Thanks goes out to CaptainCougar for the trade!

Thanks to Barry (muzzlehatch) for this freebie! Pours an absolute pitch black witha reddish-brown head sitting on top. Aroma is dark chocolate and vanilla. Flavor is like chewing on coffee beans, a bit of very dark bittersweet chocolate, and bitter alcohol. Basically, this one’s pretty bitter all around. A very impressive beer.

tap@redbones, served in a wineglass. pretty thick and black stuff. plenty of dark chocolate, some alcohol bite, hint of lactic sourness. sticky but pleasant with some bitterness. some prunes and red grapes and a light woodiness, was a shame to finish the glass as new flavours kept emerging

Bottle: Pours to an incredibly dark brown (looks like black) that will just not let any light through. This is probably the thickest stout I’ve ever had. It has a medium light brown head that leaves some lacing on the glass and is somewhat lasting. Great nose - chocolate, roasted malt, yeast, cherries, hints of rich fruit, even some vanilla, and of course the extra hops that make it "Imperial". Thick, oily mouth feel, with a medium body and excellent amount of carbonation that glides over the tongue. Awesome flavor that bests the aroma and hides the alcohol well - the hops initially kick in with bitterness that last continually, but there’s much more to this beer. There’s an impressive amount of flavors such as large amounts of chocolate malt, sugar, bakers chocolate, cappuccino, some blueberry/cherry sweetness, and even some grapefruit; all of which nicely balance out the constant hop bitterness. Finishes dry with a nice hoppy bitterness that lasts and ends up combining with a chocolate/coffee flavor that begs you to take another sip. I’ve had this stout twice before, but never rated it. Plan on aging the three other bottles I have and re-rating in a few years.

22oz bomber...muddy black pour with a very slight glazing of a choco-brown head. Aroma is negligable. Slightly fruity if anything. Bitter to start, as I would expect. Almost tastes like a barleywine to some degree. Sweet chocolate dominates the middle with a nice black coffee bitterness to finish. A solid brew, too bad that the bottle label is horrendous.

Slim rim of brown-yellow bubbles on a jet-black, ink-or tarlike beer. Chocolate, blackcurrants and other dark fruit in the nose - and then the truly imperial hops kick in. Cold coffee and moccha, dark bitter true chocolate, hops in jute bales. Under all this great bitterness, there is a massive dose of all sorts of sugar; malt-, lactic-, and cubes, but nowhere cloying. Long tarry aftertaste, partly tobacco ash, but mainly like incredibly concentrated Lapsang Souchong tea. Mouth impression is full chewy - one wants to use one’s teeth involuntary. With every sip, again a firecracker of heavenly hops bursts open, scattering its sparks over mountains of excellent - Belgian? - chocolate. There’s all sorts of dark fruit growing in those - but I’m starting to sound like a pale imitation of Martin T., the Muse of beer, who brought me this incredible concoction.

A viscous pour leads to a medium sized light brown head with good retention and a lasting, stringy lace. Black as tar, opaque. Big hoppy, malty nose. Citrus/piney notes with hints of smoke and a strong coffee, roastiness, very nice. Full bodied, slick, oily mouthfeel. Large hop flavor, grapefruit? Bittersweet chocolate, cocoa, light vinous notes. Great hop bitterness along with a large roastines. A very enjoyable Impy. Medium dry, fruity, roasty finish. One rockin brew! Thanks oldgrowth!

Black as tar. Completely impenetrable by light. Fluffy, burnt gray froth drops sticky clumps up and down the glass. Rich cappuccino dominates the nose, coupled with cocoa-dusted hops. Bounties of caramel and charcoal to go along with a pinch of black cherry, yeast, licorice, vanilla, smoke, and cream. Marvelously blended. Feathery and fluffy carbonation glides over the tongue. A tad too fizzy. Medium body. Colossal cappuccino flavors do a decent job softening the heavy initial acidity. Gobs of charcoal and caramel also come through to alleviate some of the acidity and complement the juicy hop underlay. Delayed burnt malt surge melds beautifully with the underlying berry fruitiness. Hop flavors eventually turn to bitterness, which gracefully match the charred malts and delicate caramel lushness. Burnt malts, cocoa, and cappuccino notes coat the roof of the mouth and never give in. Hop bitterness rides into the finish alongside cappuccino, coconut, and scorched malts. Piney, citrusy hops continually lurk underneath. Quite refreshingly hoppy and airy belches. Overall, the aroma seemed to promise a bit more than a mediocre mouthfeel and far less acidity, which is to partially blame the black malts and their funky yeast, which could’ve done a better job holding the flavors at the back of the tongue. Otherwise, this is quite fanciful. Thanks, CC!